U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6th Dist.) today visited the Belford Seafood Co-op, which was hit hard during Sandy and is struggling to recover. Pallone plans to introduce a bill that would provide $193 million in federal funds to New York and New Jersey fisheries that were damaged in Hurricane Sandy. Eugene Paik/The Star-Ledger

MIDDLETOWN – U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6th Dist.) plans to urge federal lawmakers to give $193 million to New York and New Jersey for damages Hurricane Sandy inflicted on the fishing industry.

The congressman today announced he will introduce a bill tomorrow that will fully cover storm damage sustained by marinas, commercial fishing docks, tackle shops and fisheries throughout the two-state region.

Roughly $120 million of that amount would go to New Jersey, Pallone said during a press conference in front of the Belford Seafood Co-op, which was hit hard during Sandy, and the remainder would go to New York. The bill would not be part of nearly $60 billion in Hurricane Sandy relief funds approved early this year by the federal government, Pallone said.

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Those Sandy relief funds are providing just $5 million to the fishing industry, he said. The amount of uninsured losses sustained by the state’s fishing industry is estimated to be between $78 million and $121 million, he said.

The fishing industry contributed $2.4 billion to New Jersey’s gross state product in 2011, Pallone said.